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Tories Pledge Thatcher-Style Lloyds Sell-Off

David Cameron is pledging an '80s-style privatisation if the Tories win the election, selling off the Government's stake in Lloyds Bank.

Only days after reviving Margaret Thatcher's right to buy policy in the Tory manifesto, he is now planning to win votes with a promise of cheap shares in a £10bn sell-off within a year of the General Election.

Labour put £20bn of taxpayers' money into Lloyds during the banking crash of 2008, acquiring a 43% stake. The coalition has already sold off £9bn of shares on the money markets, leaving a Government shareholding of 22%.

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Senior Tories are already comparing the Lloyds sale of 2015 to the high-profile and popular "Tell Sid" advertising campaign to sell British Gas shares in the 1980s.

Announcing the move, Mr Cameron said: "The £20bn bail-out of Lloyds bank by the last Labour government became a symbol of the crisis that engulfed the British economy under Labour.

"After the public bailed it out, people feared they wouldn't see their money returned. Today they are.

"Today's announcement marks another step in the long journey we have been making repairing our banks, turning our economy around and reducing our national debt, only made possible by our long-term economic plan.

"That's why it is so important that we don't put all that progress at risk, but instead build on what we've done so we can deliver a brighter, more secure future for our country."

Under the Tory sell-off:

:: The minimum investment will be £250

:: The maximum purchase will be £10,000

:: And there will be a loyalty bonus for people who hold on to their shares for a year

The sale will see £9bn of shares released for sale. Of those £4bn will go at a discounted price to small investors with a built in "loyalty bonus" which will see one additional free share for every 10 shares if they hold on to their shares for a year.

Shadow Chancellor Mr Balls told Sky News' Murnaghan programme: "I want Lloyds and RBS (LSE: RBS.L - news) back in the private sector to get our money back."

But pointing to the sale of Royal Mail (LSE: RMG.L - news) , he said: "Let's make sure the taxpayer does not get ripped off again."

Mr Balls said: "Of course the public should be buying the shares but David Cameron promised this before the last election.

"He has announced it seven times. It has taken him a lot longer than he thought.

"I want to make sure we maximise the long-term benefit for the taxpayer. I want to make sure we get the money in.

"If people buy the shares the money is coming to the Treasury."

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Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable told Sky News that an inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) might scupper the Conservatives' plan.

He said if the CMA recommended that Lloyds should divest additional parts of its business or another sanction, the bank's value would inevitably be affected.

"If that happened, it would be very difficult [for the Conservatives] to implement their plan," he said.

"Mr Osborne probably didn't think about the implications of the CMA inquiry before announcing it."

Meanwhile, the Conservatives' are up in one new opinion poll and down in another.

The Opinium poll in The Observer suggests Tory support is 36%, Labour 32%, Lib Dems 8%, UKIP 13% and Greens 5%.

But YouGov in The Sunday Times puts the Tories on 33%, Labour 36% and again Lib Dems 8%, UKIP 13% and Greens 5%

Labour have attacked the Conservatives on health, with shadow health secretary Andy Burnham claiming the Tories have a secret plan to cut nurse numbers in the NHS after the election.

The plans, according to Labour, are revealed in an official document, Health Education England's workforce plan, forecasting NHS trusts will employ nearly 2,000 fewer nurses over the next four years.

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Meanwhile, just as critics claimed the Tory campaign was boring and lacks passion, Boris Johnson announced he will move centre stage this week, calling the election a "Battle for Britain" and Ed Miliband a '70s-style socialist.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, London's Mayor said a victory for Mr Miliband on 8 May would take the country back to the '70s when British industry was brought to its knees by union barons.

"I really don't think Miliband gets that," he says. "He is one of those theoretical socialists who thinks the problem with socialism is that it has never been properly tried.

"I am horrified at the idea he should be given another go. We need five more years to entrench this economic recovery, five years to take this country forwards and not backwards.

"That is the Battle for Britain next month, and one this country can't afford to lose."